protein skimmers????

[LittleDevil]

I have a 150g tank, 100lbs LR, 5 fish, sps,lps, (2)250w halides.....
I have 2maxjet- 1200, and 2 aquaclear 300filters.....


Should I buy a protein skimmer? What are the pro's and con's?
I know some people say you HAVE to have them, and then there are people that say you dont...
Can someone fill me in on what to do, and tell me what the skimmer does....
Also what would be a good one to buy? If I need one....
Thanks,
Matt ;)

[tendar]

How long have you had the tank set up as with out a skimmer?
What are the 5 fish you have in tank?
Big messy ones. Then a decent skimmer would be a good idea.

Skimmers are good idea over all to have if for any other reason as a back up to over feeding and other issues that can arrise that will over pollute the water.
Skimmers will keep your water cleaner.

Now with that said I am running a 37 sps clam tank with out a skimmer for almost a year now with only a hang on refugium and no skimmer and have not had a problem yet. I do water change every mounth and pull calurpa once a mounth out of the refugium. This is my first tank that I have run with out a skimmer and all my other tanks I have had also ran well with a skimmer.
It is just riskier to run with out a skimmer. If your are new to the hobby I would suggest using for a while till you are more experienced and you can always slowly remove it later.

Should you decide to go with out a skimmer a refugium would be a good idea so you have some way to remove excess nutients out of the system other than just what water changes remove.

My 2cents anyway

[scubadude]

Dont think theres much to say here after Tendar hit it all that on the nose! I just wanted to back up his 2cents and let you know that I will toss my 2cents right behind his! I agree w/him 100% on what he said
as far as pros and cons

The MAIN pro:
it will save your butt many times wether you realize it or not!

The MAIN con:
it cost sooo much $$ but your best bet would be to check out some of the hobbyiest that build for us like Geo or Andy.

I have been running my 9mo.+ old 220g off and on w/out a skimmer....its not ready to go fully fledged skimmerless yet and it has its own 55g refugium! The longest I have gone w/out a skimmer has been 3 mos....Im slowly weaning it into a skimmerless system

[LittleDevil]

Thanks for all the info guys, it was very helpful.....The tank has been set and and running for almost 1 year.
I have a Purple tang, Flame Angel, 2 clowns, green crom.,Cleanershrimp, 75 snails,20hermits.

I want to get a 50g sump going really soon, would I still need a skimmer then? Or should I buy the skimmer now, then do the sump?

What would be a good skimmer to buy? and about how much do they run?

Thanks
Matt

[ChrisPrusha]

A few of the top names in protein skimmers include AquaC, Euro-Reef, MyReef, and LifeReef. Their websites are listed below.

www.proteinskimmer.com
www.euro-reef.com
www.myreefcreations.com
www.lifereef.com

Personally I run an AquaC EV-240 on my 180 and I love it. Your cost on any of these will run in the $300-$500+ range, depending on the model. I think scubadude had a great suggestion...get in touch with Geo or Andy...I hear they do great work, as well.

JMO.

Chris

[LittleDevil]

Thanks for the info... I will check those websites out....

I Dont know who goe or andy are? I asume they make good skimmers, anyone have there email adress?
Thanks,
Matt;)

[kevinpo]

I have been running some tests on a new line of skimmers this week. The one I tested performed very well and is reasonably priced. The construction quality is also excellent. He will custom make skimmers to fit your size requirements both to fit under your stand and tank capacity. Here is a link to his site.
http://www.icehouse.net/reef/

Regards,
Kevin

[thanh]

yes you need a skimmer